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According to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency, more than 500,000 jobs in the sector were created in 2017, bringing the overall total to 10.3 million.

Where it is growing: Just six countries owned 70 percent of that growth: the US, China, India, Brazil, Germany, and Japan. Asia is now home to four-fifths of all renewable-energy jobs.

Which types of energy? The production of photovoltaic panels accounted for the largest number (3.4 million) of renewable jobs in 2017, including a 9 percent increase over the previous year. Two-thirds of those jobs were located in China, the top producer of panels worldwide.

Why it matters: A select few countries are leading the charge in both building and installing renewable-energy capacity. The report also offers tangible evidence of the industry’s power to create jobs on a large scale. That should appeal to anyone worried that it’s eating into jobs in the fossil fuels sector.

Erin WinickI am MIT Technology Review’s space reporter. I am particularly interested in the technology that enables space exploration, as well as space-based manufacturing, spurring from my background in mechanical engineering. I produce our space tech e-mail newsletter, The Airlock, your gateway to emerging space technologies. I previously served as Technology Review’s associate editor of the future of work. Before joining the publication I worked as a freelance science writer, founded the 3-D printing company Sci Chic, and interned at the Economist. Get in touch at erin.winick@technologyreview.com.

ImagePriscilla Du Preez | Unsplash

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Erin WinickI am MIT Technology Review’s space reporter. I am particularly interested in the technology that enables space exploration, as well as space-based manufacturing, spurring from my background in mechanical engineering. I produce our space tech e-mail newsletter, The Airlock, your gateway to emerging space technologies. I previously served as Technology Review’s associate editor of the future of work. Before joining the publication I worked as a freelance science writer, founded the 3-D printing company Sci Chic, and interned at the Economist. Get in touch at erin.winick@technologyreview.com.

ImagePriscilla Du Preez | Unsplash

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